petit four

American  

[pet-ee fawr, fohr, puh-tee foor] / ˈpɛt i ˈfɔr, ˈfoʊr, pə ti ˈfur /

noun

petits fours, plural petit fours plural

1. a small teacake, variously frosted and decorated.

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petit four British  

/ pəti fur, ˈpɛtɪ ˈfɔː /

noun

1. any of various very small rich sweet cakes and biscuits, usually decorated with fancy icing, marzipan, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• petit fours
  plural
• petits fours
  plural

Etymology

Origin of petit four

1880–85; < French: literally, small oven

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

petit four

Pungent dried scallops are in a sweet-and-savory fudge petit four, not a classic soup.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2025

A server emerged from the kitchen carrying a birthday cake shaped like a giant petit four.

From New York Times ● Feb. 18, 2022

They’ll end the meal with a “sip of tea,” a petit four formation styled in honor of Japanese tea and cherry blossoms.

From Time ● Apr. 28, 2015

But it is not 1962, a petit four is not a silk screen, and McDonald’s burgers are not merely a symbol of commercialism.

From Slate ● May 3, 2013

“Well, we’re not the dress-up types,” I said, picking up another sugary petit four and biting into it to stop myself from defending Mamá’s honor to the point of being rude to our hostess.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall